WINNIPEG – His DNA has been linked to a high-profile Winnipeg homicide, giving prosecutors what they hope is a scientific "smoking gun."
But the first-degree murder case against Mark Grant may prove to be anything but routine as his lawyers work to raise a doubt about the validity of the forensic evidence.
Grant, 47, has pleaded not guilty to the November 1984 slaying of 13-year-old Candace Derksen, who vanished while walking home from her school in the Winnipeg neighbourhood of Elmwood. Her frozen, hog-tied body was found in January 1985 inside a storage shed at a brickyard less than two kilometres away.
A clear pattern has been established through cross-examination of the 11 witnesses who have testified against Grant since the case began last week. Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds has made a concerted effort to attack the evidence which led to his client being arrested in 2007, citing a spoiled crime scene, sloppy police work and the erosion of memories through the passage of time.
Three pubic hairs linked to Grant were found on or near Derksen’s body, although police have said she wasn’t sexually assaulted. Four scalp hairs that appear to have been lightly bleached near the roots were on Derksen’s clothing. As well, DNA linked to Grant was found on the twine used to bind her.
On Monday, Simmonds asked a flurry of questions of witnesses which themselves raised a number of questions, including the possibility Grant once worked at the business where Derksen’s body was found.
Frank Alsip, the owner of Alsip’s Building Products and Services Ltd., testified he has no memory of ever employing Grant but admitted personnel records have long since been destroyed. Alsip said "it’s possible" Grant could have spent some time on the property, which could explain why strands of his hair were found inside the shed near Derksen’s body.
Alsip also told jurors under cross-examination that the City of Winnipeg was storing hundreds of sandbags on his property, all bound with twine. Alsip said he has no idea who might have had access to the bags and twine, which is similar to what was used to confine Derksen.
Alsip said his property wasn’t fully fenced in, didn’t have surveillance cameras and often saw unwelcome visitors walking through. He said the shed where Derksen was found had an insecure door that had broken off its hinges years earlier but was never repaired.
"Unfortunately people were free to come and go as they chose, weren’t they?" said Simmonds.
The same line of questioning was put to several police officers who attended the scene. Every Crown witness to date has had no memory of a previous meeting with Grant, which would seem to rule out the possibility of an inadvertent transfer of DNA evidence. But defence lawyers appear to be leaving that door open by asking specific questions of officers about whether they can recall every person they encountered, meal they ate at and movie they watched in the weeks preceding the investigation. None could, of course.
Last week, retired officer Ronald Allan admitted the crime scene could have been "contaminated" because investigators had no way of knowing at the time of scientific advances that were to come, allowing for forensic testing that would lead them to Grant more than two decades later.
Several officers walked through the shed and surrounding area, not wearing any protective clothing, masks or hair nets, as they collected about 40 exhibits, Allan told jurors. He couldn’t say how many different sets of hands touched the twine from which Grant’s DNA was ultimately extracted using advanced scientific techniques.
Simmonds asked Allan whether officers at the scene that day could have "coughed, sneezed … scratched themselves" while searching for evidence.
Allan said it was possible, but the passage of time means there is no way to precisely remember.
The trial is set to continue on Wednesday afternoon.
mike.mcintyrefreepress@mb.ca
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